


A Small Change

by Glowstar826



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Canon, Angry Sirius Black, Battle of the Department of Mysteries, Book 5: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Canonical "Death", Character Death, Competition, Gen, In the Veil, POV Sirius Black, POV Third Person Limited, Sad Sirius Black, Sirius Black & James Potter Friendship, Sirius Black Lives, Sirius Black Swears, Snape's Worst Memory, Swearing, Time Travel, Time Travel Fix-It
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-17
Updated: 2021-01-17
Packaged: 2021-03-15 14:21:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,112
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28814823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Glowstar826/pseuds/Glowstar826
Summary: When Sirius Black falls through the Veil, an interesting, nonlethal phenomenon takes place.
Relationships: Lily Evans Potter & Severus Snape, Sirius Black & Harry Potter, Sirius Black & Remus Lupin, Sirius Black & Remus Lupin & Peter Pettigrew & James Potter
Comments: 7
Kudos: 72





	A Small Change

**Author's Note:**

> **Thank you so much to my betas VanillaAshes, CupCakeyyy, Butterflies765, Fires of Eden Red Rose Aurora, and Hucklebarry!**

Sirius laughed as Bellatrix's spell missed him by mere inches. He danced around the beams of light, firing curses of his own as he taunted her in the hopes her self-confidence would be diminished.

"How's Rodolphus doing?" said Sirius with malice. "Personally, I don't understand what you see in that bastard —"

"Quiet, you foul-mouthed blood-traitor!" Bellatrix thundered. "Always mucking around with wizards of lesser blood —"

"Well, let's hope your husband doesn't leave you when he realizes how demented you are, eh?" Sirius continued, paying no mind to Bellatrix's cacophony of insults.

He felt a release as each of his hexes hit Bellatrix, gaining a sense of empowerment as his cousin's face only grew more feral. He was so absorbed in his mission to anger the hell out of her that he did not see his mistake until it was too late.

Sirius staggered back a little as Bellatrix's latest spell hit him square in the chest. He gasped, clearly not having expected it. He pushed away a curtain that flapped in his face, and confusion filled him instantly as he saw his godson's eyes widen with horror and his maniacal cousin wear an expression of victory.

"Harry?" said Sirius blankly.

But Harry did not respond. He just continued with his own screaming and — _crying_? — as he ran away from Sirius, continuing the duel with Bellatrix.

"Harry! Wait!" Sirius implored, but there was no response to his calls. He looked to Remus and shouted for him to do the same thing, but instead, Remus sent a forlorn look in Sirius' direction and ran after Harry without looking back. Sirius tried running back into the room, but something drew him back as if he was being tethered to an imaginary wall. His peripheral vision was getting darker as an invisible, overpowering force gradually pulled him into the blackness of his unconscious.

"No!" cried Sirius desperately, scrambling to get back to his feet. "WAIT! Someone get me out of here!"

He tried grabbing on to the fabric of the curtain he passed, but it slipped through his fingers.

" _NO_!"

Sirius willed himself to stay awake. He needed to help Harry, to defeat Bellatrix, to _get back into the fight_ —

But what he did not realize was, at that moment, his fight was already lost.

…

Sirius woke up feeling dazed, squinting as the sunlight glared in his face. He propped himself up on his elbows and looked around. Everything felt hazy as he made a tremendous effort to stand up but his legs gave out and he fell face-first into the lime green grass.

"Fuck," muttered Sirius as he held a hand to his throbbing head. It was as if there was a hammer inside, continuously pounding his skull. "What has that crazy bitch done _now_?"

An irritating noise — which only served to make his headache worse — filled Sirius' ears as he looked up at a bird who was chirping relentlessly.

"Shut _up_ , you stupid bird!" said Sirius as he made to stand up again but fell in a heap. Why were his legs not working right now? Where was he anyway?

Sighing, Sirius resigned to rolling over and staring up at the brilliantly blue, cloudless sky. Well, not _cloudless_ , as there was a single white streak that reminded Sirius of a Muggle watercolor painting, but mostly cloud-free. As Sirius tried to figure out where he was, he heard a voice yell out, " _Expelliarmus_!"

Sirius shot up at the sound. He _knew_ that voice. He winced involuntarily as he heard the same voice shout, " _Impedimenta_!" followed by a thud.

He remembered this day. Harry had been rightfully angry at him when he found out about this. He had shouted at him and demanded to know why they had treated Snape the way they did. But this couldn't be real. This was the _past_. Why would Sirius be sitting here, reliving this memory, the _very same memory Harry saw in that damned Pensieve_ —

"How'd the exam go, Snivelly?" the voice continued, and that was when Sirius realized who it was.

" _James_ ," breathed Sirius as a flood of memories came to him.

 _The bespectacled young boy told him that being a Black didn't matter in the end_ … _the four of them were running around as Moony howled at the moon happily_ … _a set of strong fingers carded through his hair as the pair stood outside the Potters' house in the rain_ … _he stood proudly as he watched his best friend kiss his new wife while the crowd applauded_ … _a tiny baby boy was placed in his arms as James declared him the godfather of his and Lily's son_ … _his best friend's face looked stricken when he suggested they switch Secret-Keepers_ … _James' lifeless eyes shone brightly at him, and his wand was nowhere to be seen_ …

An inhuman noise escaped Sirius' throat as he crumpled to the ground in pain. _James_. The man who took him in, the man who was more like a brother than his actual brother. What he would not give to go over there and tackle him with a bear hug. To see his face, to _feel_ him —

But what if this was all a dream?

Knowing Bellatrix, this could have been a figment of his imagination. Maybe Sirius had finally done it and become insane like the rest of his family. Maybe Bellatrix gave him that last push. Maybe…

"I was watching him, his nose was touching the parchment," Sirius heard a new voice say as he started inching closer to the scene. "There'll be great grease marks all over it, they won't be able to read a word." He smothered a chuckle when he realized it was his younger self speaking. Children's jeering filled Sirius' ears, and it gave him a deep sense of nostalgia.

"You — wait," a third voice said, and Sirius immediately recognized it as Snape's. "You — wait!"

Sirius turned away. He did not wish to look at this scene again. He did not know why he was even there in the first place. He knew Bellatrix Lestrange was a competent — and an admittedly brilliant, Sirius thought with an eye roll — witch, but even she had not mastered magic like this, had she?

On impulse, he grabbed a chunk of grass and ripped it from the ground. He took the lingering dirt in his hands and smeared it, searching for a feeling, _any_ feeling, that would prove that he was physically there. He sighed in relief when he felt a worm crawl out of one of the grass blades and start inching its way across his palm. He became mesmerized by its movements as he observed the little thing leave a yellow stain on his skin.

"Wait for what?" said Sirius's younger self. "What're you going to do, Snivelly, wipe your nose on us?"

Sirius thought again about how Harry had confronted him and Remus through the Floo. Sirius had done all he could to preserve James' image, but he had been endlessly thankful that Harry had not seen the rest of the memory. He was not sure if even _he_ could see it for a second time. Maybe that was why he was sent here. Maybe Bellatrix sent him here to… _watch himself_? No, that didn't make sense.

Conflicting emotions rose within Sirius. He could go over there and stop his younger self and his equally young best mate — but how? He figured that it was no use watching this happen once more, but what if James and Sirius' younger self recognized him? And why would a haggard adult be present at Hogwarts, anyway?

Sirius slammed his fist on the ground as he let out a long groan.

"Goddamn it, Bellatrix," said Sirius angrily. "You've _really_ fucked me up, haven't you?"

She was obviously making him hallucinate the entire thing. James couldn't be alive. That was impossible. He _buried_ him, for Merlin's sake! He went to his damn funeral!

Sirius turned back to the scene again when he heard James shout, " _Scourgify_!"

No, he couldn't have been hallucinating. He had felt that worm. He still felt the sun's rays.

Sirius jumped a mile when he heard a fourth voice bellow, "Leave him ALONE!"

He felt nostalgic again as he heard Lily's voice for the first time in years. He remembered her sunny expression and her cool temper. She had been the perfect balance to James' fire. They had been yin and yang. Of course, it took a while for the two lovebirds to realize that, but once they did, nothing had gotten in their way.

Now, as Sirius took the time to remember Lily, why _had_ she defended Snape so passionately, and why did she turn on him so quickly?

 _He called her Mudblood, idiot_ , Sirius' brain told him, but he found that he was not quite satisfied with that answer. He still wanted to know why exactly she had come to his aid, especially as she was a Gryffindor.

 _She wasn't like you lot_ , Sirius' brain said once more. _She actually cared about everyone, including Slytherins_.

But that wasn't the case either, not at all. In fact, she had close to zero friends. She hung out with no one in school and had kept to herself, which was quite strange, seeing how she had been so great with people. She had been quite popular with the teachers and she talked to her dorm mates some, but that was it. Before she and James had started dating, Sirius had never seen Lily Evans _really_ have fun with someone in the way he and James had fun. Unless he didn't pay close enough attention…

And that's when it hit him.

Lily had been _friends_ with that slimy git! Sirius wanted to puke at the thought, but it made sense. Everyone hated that loser, but Lily had had nothing to say. She never said anything against Snape, and now that he thought about it, she had looked quite _betrayed_ when Snape called her "Mudblood."

Betrayed. Well, that was a new way of looking at it.

Standing up, Sirius started walking closer to the scene. He did not know what possessed him to do so, but something inside him wanted for Lily to experience as little pain as possible. Unfortunately, it meant that he would have to ruin the fun of James and his younger self, but Sirius supposed that was the mentality that came with a person his age.

"What's going on here?" asked Sirius, channeling Remus' disarming but pleasant tone. He had no idea what the hell he was doing, but he figured that something was better than nothing.

"What do _you_ want, old man?" snapped Sirius' younger self.

"I'm only thirty-six," Sirius shot back almost instantly, now determined to out-sass this puny version of himself. "Yeah, my clothes are kind of tattered, but that's what happens when you're dueling someone, right?"

Sirius smirked as some of the younger students gasped.

"Dueling?" questioned Sirius' younger self. "You look too bony to have dueled!"

"Stop it," whispered James, but the other boy pushed on.

"Want to duel? Here? Now?"

Sirius found himself chuckling at the offer.

"Of course! Just not here, yeah?"

"Don't 'yeah' me, old man," Sirius' teenaged version retorted.

"And don't get cocky," said the adult Sirius. As he looked around, he realized his half-assed plan was actually working. Less and less people were focusing on Snape and more people were focusing on him.

"Come on!" shouted Sirius jovially. "I heard exams are over — once I beat this kid, I can probably give you some tips on Defense!"

Murmurs of excitement passed through the kids. Sirius looked past them and saw Lily running over to Snape and helping him up. He felt surprised at Snape and Lily's embrace, but for some reason, it felt worth it, even if he would wake up soon and return to the real world. Maybe, once he woke up, he would try to apologize? Sirius wanted to puke again, but he realized that needling Snape was, in all honesty, getting tiring. Maybe he could try and ask if they could start over.

No, that would be too much. A truce would be enough to help with the war effort. And Dumbledore sure as hell would be happy. Maybe he'd even trust him with less menial jobs and give him actual tasks!

Now _that_ was something to look forward to.

With a grin, he led the kids to the other side of the castle, blissfully unaware that the small change he made would alter the entire course of history. In fact, it would be many, _many_ years from now that Sirius would learn what actually happened.


End file.
